Third time's a harm

Ugh, it's been hard writing this blog the last 2 weeks, and as I write now, it's been about an hour since the Ravens lost to the Vikings, 33-31. I figured I might as well get it all out of my system now and move on rather than wait until tomorrow morning and pick at the wound after it's had a chance to scab over.

First, let me say that we should consider ourselves lucky for even being able to watch that game on pins and needles. When the Ravens were down 17-3 and 27-10, I thought the game was over and didn't want to watch any more. But, the Ravens staged an amazing comeback, scoring 21 points in the 4th quarter, and took the lead, 31-30 with 3:37 left on the clock.

But, as the Ravens defense had done all day, they allowed too many big plays, and a Brett Favre to Sidney Rice 58-yard pass put the Vikings in field goal range, where they kicked the go ahead FG to take the lead, 33-31.

Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense got the ball back with 1:49 left. Flacco has not yet completed a game-winning drive, and it looked like today would be his first when he drove the offense down to the Vikings' 27-yard line, where Steve Hauschka attempted his first game-winning FG.

It was just slightly wide-left.

The Vikings win, remain unbeaten at 6-0 and the Ravens drop to 3-3.

It was hard to take at the time, but some minor reflection does put the game in a more positive light. Especially when you consider the offense.

Flacco absolutely exploded today, for 385 passing yards and 2 touchdown passes. Ray Rice had 194 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns. And Derrick Mason returned in a big way after being held without a catch last week, with 97 receiving yards and a touchdown. Even Mark Clayton got in on the action, with 57 receiving yards and a TD catch. Clayton had been the unfortunate whipping boy during the Ravens previous 2 losses.

But, as good a day as the offense had today, the defense was just as disappointing. For one, they gave up another huge day to the opponent, this time it was 426 yards to the Vikings. Favre tossed for 278 yards and the Ravens allowed their second consecutive 100+ yard rusher as Adrian Peterson rumbled for 142 yards.

The secondary is becoming, in a word, shitty. They routinely left Viking receivers wide open all over the field and exemplified poor tackling all day. The only positive that can be taken from the defense today was their ability to hold the Vikings to field goals late in the game, when touchdowns would have ended the game a lot earlier. But those "holds" only came after allowing huge plays to the Vikings offense, so even that positive is outlined in negativity.

Greg Mattison is not having a good showing as Ravens Defensive Coordinator through his first 6 games as he's allowed opponents to rack up yardsand points week after week. His failure to design effective blitz packages have allowed opposing QB's to have success picking the Ravens secondary apart. So while the secondary is extremely weak, it's not all their fault. The Ravens simply have to get after the QB more often.

Then there is Hauschka.

There was some talk by fans during the preseason that letting Matt Stover go was a mistake. Hauschka was untested, and Stover had been money when making crucial kicks late in games. And while Hauschka unfortunately missed the potential 44-yard game winner today, there is no guarantee that Stover would have made the kick either.

The Ravens were right to go in a different direction. Stover's leg was getting weaker with each kick and his failure to handle kick-offs forced the Ravens to waste a roster spot on a kickoff specialist (Hauschka, last year).

If there was any mistake made by the Ravens relating to the kicker position, it was going with an untested kicker in Hauschka. Maybe they could have gone after a different kicker, who was younger than Stover, and had been tested in crucial late situations.

But all that is just second guessing in my opinion. Pinning losses on a kicker has always been something I've hated, because there are usually a ton of other things that could have prevented putting the game into the kicker's hands. And today the Ravens could have stopped the Vikings offense on any number of occasions. So today's loss is squarely on Mattison and the Ravens defense.

Hopefully Steve Hauschka will get another chance to knock a game winner through the uprights and settle his nerves.

As for the Ravens, who are 3-3 as they head into the bye week, it doesn't look good. The way I see it, the Ravens are going to need a 11-5 record to have a chance to either win the division or make the playoffs as a Wild Card team, and that means going 8-2 down the stretch against tough teams in Denver, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh x2, and then Chicago and Green Bay.

The Ravens can still make the playoffs, but they are going to have to make drastic changes to the defense to do it.

Until then, it's probably a good time to enjoy the bye week. The same should go for the team too.

Ghosts of the Colts

While watching the wonderful ESPN "30 for 30" documentary, The Band that Wouldn't Die, about the Colts leaving Baltimore and the marching band that stayed behind, I got to thinking about my childhood as a football orphan in the wake of the Colts moving to Indianapolis.

I am 30 years old, which means that I was 4 going on 5 when the Colts left Baltimore in the winter of 1984. I don't have a single memory of the Colts.

Part of me is mad that I can't connect with the old Colts fans who occasionally still scratch their Colt phantom limbs. When they bring up the past, I feel alienated and frustrated to the point of saying "let it go". After all, we're lucky to have the Ravens who have already won a Super Bowl and are competitive year in and year out.

Then another part of me is glad that I didn't have to go through the heartbreak of losing a beloved team.

Take the Orioles for instance. They've been here for my entire lifetime, and I came up an Orioles fan. It was the same as inheriting my parents features -- I inherited their love of the O's. And even though the Orioles haven't supplied me with a wealth of fond memories (I basically live off of '89, '96 and '97), they are still my one and only baseball team.

And if they ever left Baltimore, I'd be devastated.

For my generation of football fans in Baltimore, we grew up as orphans.

We knew little of the Colts in Baltimore, so we were forced to adopt other teams to root for. I dabbled in fandom for the Bengals and Steelers (Yes, I'll admit it) while my friends attached themselves to the Saints (they had family in New Orleans) while my cousin jumped on the Cowboys bandwagon during their Super Bowl runs in the early 90's.

A lot of kids I went to school with became Redskins fans, and it wasn't hard for them to do since the Redskins were winning Super Bowls in the late 80's, early 90's.

I'd like to think that experience as a football orphan made me a better, more loyal fan when the Ravens arrived in Baltimore. When that happened I instantly fused them with my being, and I never take them for granted.

Meanwhile, as an Oriole fan, I have a blog called "The Bad Oriole" where I trash the Orioles every chance I get, and believe me, they don't leave me with a shortage of chances to do it.

But while watching the documentary, directed by Baltimore native director Barry Levinson, I was reminded of how strong the Colts roots were in the city and how much of an impact the team had on today's NFL. The 1958 Championship game versus the New York Giants transformed the NFL into the TV giant it is today. And Super Bowl III forced the NFL to recognize the fledgling AFL, even if the Colts had to play the part of the once-favored loser.

But most of all, it gave me a new found respect for the old Colts Marching Band. At Ravens games, they strut out on the field at halftime, play their renditions of five year old pop songs while fans either call their friends for their fantasy football score, or go to the bathroom. I've even gone as far as calling the band an embarrassment.

But all that changed while watching The Band that Wouldn't Die. I realized that they were largely instrumental in keeping Baltimore at the forefront of any NFL expansion or relocation. They toured other cities' stadiums, and kept Baltimore in the minds of the powers that be. And they didn't give up, even after the NFL passed Baltimore over in the 1993 Expansion for Carolina and Jacksonville.

So when they come out on the field at the next home game, I may not exactly enjoy their cheesy performance, but I will give them a hearty applause. They deserve it for enduring for so long.

In the end, The Band that Wouldn't Die made me proud to be not an Orioles fan or a Ravens fan, but a Baltimore fan. There is so much history around us and sometimes we get so caught up in the present that we forget that the past is even there.

And while we may roll our eyes whenever some salt-of-the-earth Baltimore fan calls into a sports radio talk show and brings up the Baltimore Colts, the past would cease to exist if we weren't occasionally reminded of it -- packed up into Mayflower vans and driven off to some barren wasteland.

Ravens stumble against Bengals

It was one of those games that could be brought up in the future for many reasons.

It could be the game where the Bengals showed us why they are to be taken seriously in 2009. After all, they are a fluke play away from being 5-0.

It could be the game where the Ravens showed that they are unable to play as a favorite.

And it could be the game where Ravens fans have to finally accept the fact that the defense is not the team's asset any more and is now the team's liability.

The Ravens allowed 403 yards of offense yesterday in their 17-14 loss to the Bengals including 120 rush yards and a touchdown to Cedric Benson, the first 100+ rusher they've allowed since Larry Johnson in 2006.

The Ravens also committed a ton of penalties that were either sloppy and undisciplined or were ticky-tack calls by the referees who seemed to be trigger-happy after the Ravens were critical of them after their loss to New England a week ago.

But penalties aside, the Ravens looked as flat as a pancake yesterday in pretty much every aspect of the game.

The offense couldn't get anything going for most of the game. They totaled just 257 yards and lost the game clock battle by almost 10 minutes. They scored one touchdown, and even that came on a Joe Flacco screen pass to Ray Rice, who scrambled 48 yards for a score. It was almost like they scored their one touchdown by accident.

But even after that TD, the Ravens were up 14-10 and looked to be in control. After stopping the Bengals on the following drive, all they had to do was burn the clock, which was at 5:29. They killed over 3 minutes of the clock, but after a deep 3rd down Flacco pass to Mark Clayton was overthrown, the Ravens had to punt with 2:10 minutes left. The Bengals had 2 timeouts and the two minute warning in their pocket.

And that was when the defense handed the Bengals the game. They allowed Cincinnati to waltz down the field on them, and even handed them an extra 25 yards on the drive via 2 penalties, which included a vicious late hit by Ray Lewis on Chad Ochocinco.

Carson Palmer found Bengals WR Andre Caldwell a few plays later for the go ahead score.

Ballgame. And my worst nightmare come true.

Where were Derrick Mason and Willis McGahee yesterday? Why was Cam Cameron both aggressive and conservative at the same time? And WTF is up with the penalties? The Ravens committed 10 for 76 yards and are the most penalized team in the NFL. I thought John Harbaugh had this team well disciplined after last season, but now they appear to be coming apart at the seams.

At least the Ravens are now in their comfort zone again. Their backs are against the wall and they are no longer the favorites. They seem to thrive in the underdog role, and that's exactly what they'll be next week when they travel to Minnesota to take on the 5-0 Vikings.

It doesn't look good. And if the Ravens lose next week, they'll be heading into the bye-week 3-3, which will be almost impossible to overcome. Teams like Denver, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh (twice) are still on the schedule. Ouch.

So in closing, yesterday's game could also be the game where the Ravens forced fans to re-evalaute their expectations for the season. And the post-season.

Patriots beat Ravens (with help from officials)

The Ravens lost their first game of the 2009 season yesterday, 27-21, to the New England Patriots. It's a game they could have easily won if they made some plays late in the game and had the officials not been a part of "the Brady Bunch" all afternoon.

The game included, quite simply, some of the worst officiating I have seen in a Ravens game in a long time. Terrell Suggs, after swatting at Tom Brady as he fell to the ground, was called for a 15-yard "roughing the passer" after Brady pleaded to the refs to call a penalty and the ref obliged. The penalty extended the drive which resulted in a Patriots TD that made the score 17-7. Earlier in the game, a similar penalty occurred when a Ravens defender (I can't remember who) went for the ball and came down, brushing up against Brady's grill. He too was called for a RTP penalty, which extended the drive which resulted in a Patriots TD. Also, head coach John Harbaugh could be heard on the telecast complaining about a bad call, calling it a "bullshit call", to which the ref, who must have virgin ears, threw a flag on the Ravens bench for another 15-yard penalty. Thankfully, that drive ended in a Patriots punt.

The officials must have gotten a memo from the NFL before the game that read: "Dear officials, we cannot accept the Patriots going 2-2. Throw flags at will".

Horrible, terrible and disgusting officiating aside, the Ravens beat themselves. On 4th and 3 on the Patriots 14-yard line, Mark Clayton dropped a pass from Joe Flacco that hit him in the chest. It would have given the Ravens 4 shots at the endzone to win the game from within the Patriots' 10 yard line with 25 seconds left on the clock.

Also, I have to wonder what Cam Cameron was thinking yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I love the man and he has brought a whole new identity to the Ravens offense, but he had several occasions yesterday to establish the run and decided to pass the ball 47 times and run only 17 times even as the Ravens RB's averaged a whopping 6.8 yards per carry! The lack of running game allowed Brady and the Patriots to control the game clock (34:56 to 25:04) and gave the Patriots too many chances to put points on the board.

The defense also allowed too many long drives (thanks in part to the terrible officiating which extended multiple drives), and the secondary was exposed, especially cornerback Dominique Foxworth. The Ravens also failed to pressure Brady, sacking him just twice. He literally had all day in the pocket to pick the Ravens secondary apart despite a key sack of Brady that resulted in a fumble and a Ravens defensive touchdown.

Harbaugh, a former special teams coach, must be fuming at the lack of performance by his special teams. Return man Chris Carr fumbled the opening return, giving the Patriots the ball on the Ravens 20-yard line. Thankfully the defense held them to a field goal. However, the Ravens' ST unit failed to give the offense a decent starting position for most of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the offense had their worst performance of the season. Flacco played reasonably well, throwing for 264 of those 363 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 1 costly interception at the end of the first half that took away a chance at a field goal. Derrick Mason disappeared after having a huge first drive in which he hauled in 6 catches and a touchdown, but had only 1 more catch the rest of the game. Kelley Washington, who had been a key part of the offense in the last 2 weeks and was facing his old team, disappeared for the most part, catching 4 passes for just 31 yards. And Clayton, who had a chance to extend what could have been the Ravens' winning drive, caught 5 balls for 45 yards.

On the rushing side of the offense, Ray Rice had a great game, running for 103 yards on just 11 carries, which makes the lack of consistent running plays that much more depressing. Rice was slashing through holes all day, but Cameron kept opting for the pass instead.

In the end, the Ravens lost a close game they should have won due to crucial mistakes which are only magnified by some pretty awful officiating. It should force Cam Cameron to look at the boxscore, realize he only ran the ball an unacceptable 17 tiems with what could be the best 3-pronged rushing attack in the NFL, and revamp the offense in the coming week to focus more on ball control.

The Ravens host the Bengals this Sunday in what will be a battle for first place in the AFC North after the Bengals squeaked out an overtime win against the Browns. Both teams are 3-1 with the Steeler a game back at 2-2. The Browns are 0-4.

NOTE: OL Jared Gaither, who was carted off the field after suffering an apparent spine injury, was taken to an area hospital and was able to move his extremities. LB Brendon Ayanbadejo will likely miss the rest of the season after injuring his knee.